With the progress and development of the electronics field, quickness has been required in every field and the field of silver halide photographic processing is no exception.
In particular, in processing of sheet-form light-sensitive materials such as light-sensitive materials for graphic arts, X-ray photographic light-sensitive materials, light-sensitive materials for scanners, light-sensitive materials for CRT image recording, etc., the requirement for quick processing is constantly increasing.
Also, when processing is quickened, there is an advantage that the volume of a tank required for processing a unit amount of light-sensitive material for a unit time may be small, that is, the size of an automatic processor can be reduced, and hence the significance of quick processing becomes important.
However, quickening of development processing aggravates the problem that sensitizing dye(s) contained in silver halide light-sensitive materials leave color (so-called residual color) in the light-sensitive materials without being eluted out completely during processing and the problem that reductions in photographic performance (development inhibition, fix inhibition, bleach inhibition, etc.) occur with the delay of the desorption of sensitizing dye(s) from silver halide grains.
Hitherto, as a method of reducing the occurrence of residual color, various methods are described, e.g., in Research Disclosure, Vol. 207, No. 20733 (July, 981). That is, there are (1) a method of adding a water-soluble stilbene compound and/or a nonionic surface active agent to a developer, (2) a method of treating photographic elements with an oxidizing agent after developing, bleaching, and fixing, to destroy sensitizing dye(s) left in the elements, and (3) a method of employing a persulfuric acid bleach bath as the bleach bath. However, these methods are insufficient because when residual color is large, the methods do not positively accelerate the desorption and elution of sensitizing dye(s), and in particular, the methods are unsuitable for quick processing.